Cut-off-controlling mechanism



March 27, 1928. I 1,664,119 7 S. M. LANGSTON ET AL CUT-OFF CONTROLLING MECHANISM Filed April 26, 1927 I 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 v .57 M 49 Z 3?" ZMM W M March 27, 1928. v

s. M. LANGSTON ET AL CUT-OFF CONTROLLING I MECHANISM 4 Sheets-Sheet '2 Filed April 26. 1927 S. M. LANGSTON ET AL March Z7, 1928.

GUT-OFF CONTROLLING MECHANISM Filed April 26. 1927 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 llllllllliii gwatto'zmaf I WWW S. M. LANGSTON ET AL CUT-OFF CONTROLLING MECHANISM March 27, 1-928.

Filed April 26, 1927 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 mm Y Q Patented Mar. 27, i2.

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SAMUEL M. LANGSTON, OF WENONAH, AND

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KARL SIEG, 0F BROOKLAWN, NEW JERSEY,

ASSIGNORS T0 SAMUEL TE. LANGSTON 00., DE CAMDEN, NEW JERSEY, A. GORPQR-A TION OF NEW JERSEY.

CUT-OFF-GONTROLLING MECHANISM.

Application filed April 26,,

In the continuous manufacture and dclivery of material Which by reason of its stiffness cannot be rolled up as delivered, it is customary to provide cut-01f mechanism of some kind for subdividing the material sheet which is to be made from the section.

Thus in cutting up the section there will be the minimum waste.

Machines are in use in which a target or other member is disposed in the path of the advancing end of the material, and, when moved by the material, releases the cut-ofi mechanism and permits movement of the latter through one cycle of operation. Such machines when properly designed and adjusted will cut sections of substantially uniform length so long as the speed of the machine remains constant. I

All prior machines of this character with which we are familiar have one inherent (lefectwhich no one has heretofore been able to overcome. If the machine be set for cutting a specified length of section or blank at a particular speed, the sections or blanks will be longer or shorter if the machine be operated at a difi'erent speed. Any such change in length results 'in waste, as a long section has excess material and a short section must be thrown away or worked up in some other way.

The main object of our invention is to secureuniformity of the length of the cut-" off sections, irrespective of the speed of the machine or the frequency or extent of the changes of speed.

Incarrying out our invention we provide means for automatically varying the position of the trip or target mechanism in accordance with the speed of the machine. Thus. as the speed increases or decreases, the trip mechanism will automatically move to such position that the machine will cut off sections of the same length at one speed or at any other. The position of the target or trip mechanism may be varied by the action of a speed governor on the machine, or it may be automatically moved by the 1927. Serial No. 186,772.

mechanism which is moved in increasin or decreasing the speed of the machine. T 01 instance, if the machine be driven by an electric motor, the controller handle for stopping, starting and varying the speed of the motor may be connected to the target through suitable mechanism to correspondingly change the position of the target. If the machine be driven from a constant speed source of power through a Reeves drive or other speed changing mechanism, the operating handle for adjusting the Reeves drive or the driving gear ratio may be connected through suitable mechanism to the trip or target to automatically move the latter to the proper position required for the speed at which the machine is driven.

The accompanying drawings illustrate merely one embodiment of our invention. In these drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a table over which the material may be conveyed and which may be provided with our improved mechanism. r

Fig. 2 is a View of the opposite side of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1.

Figs. 3 and 4 are transverse sections on the lines 3-3 and 44 respectively of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a View similar to the middle portion of Fig. 2, but on a larger scale.

Fig. 6 is a section at right angles to the plane of Fig. 5, and similar to the left hand portion of Fig. 4:, but on a larger scale.

'Fig. 7 is asection similar to the right hand end of Fig. ,3, but on a larger scale and taken on the line 7-7 of Fig. 8, and

Fig. 8 is a view of the parts shown in Fig. 7 looking from the left hand side of said figure. Certain of the parts here shown also appear on-asmaller scale and viewed from the opposite side at the right hand end of Fig. .1.

The invention is illustrated as applied to a machine for receiving the advancing end of stiff sheet materiallsueh. as' double faced corrugated board which has been continuously made in, and delivered from, a machine not illustrated. a

The apparatus includes a pair of side frames 10 which support a table over which the material passes. The table is illustrated as including transverse supporting bars 1.1

and a plurality of boards 12 extending in the direction of travel of the material. The material is delivered over the table from the left hand end of the apparatus as illustrated in Fig. 1, ,and from the right hand end as indicated in Fig. 2. V

At opposite ends of the frame and slightly below the table are a pair of transverse shafts 13 having pulleys 14 for supporting belts 15 which convey the material over the table. One of the shafts is driven from the same source of power as that which drives the machine for making the double faced corrugated board, and for cutting it into sections. The driving connections, are, such that the belts travel at a higher rate of speed than does the mechanism which manufactures the board, and therefore, as soon as each section of the board is cut off" it is caused to travel at a higher speed than it did before it was cut off, and a gap or space is formed between the cut-off section and the advancing end of the body of the sheet. The cut-0if mechanism is not illustrated, but it may be located directly at the left of the apparatus as shown in Fig. 1, and may be constructed substantially as shown in the Langston Patent 1,359,076, issued November 16, 1920.

This cut-off mechanism may be driven by mechanism including a clutch which when brought into operation causes the cut-off mechanism to travel through one cycle and perform one cutting operation and then come to a standstill.

'The means for causing the clutch to come into operation at the predetermined time so as to cut off the desired length of section may be constructed substantially as shown 'in our companion application, Serial No.'

208,934, filed July 28, 1927, and may be controlled by the mechanism forming the present invention and hereinafter described.

At the lower right hand corner of Fig. 2 there is illustrated at shaft 16 which may extend to the cut-off mechanism for controlling the clutch of the latter. This shaft is mounted for oscillation and is provided with a lever or arm 17 which may be connected by a link (not illustrated) to a lever or arm 18 on a shaft 19 extending lengthwise of the apparatus at a proximately the elevation of the table. See left hand end of Figs. 3 and 4.) This shaft is mounted for oscillation and serves to operate the clutch trip lever .through the parts 16, 17 and 18.

Means are whereby this shaft 19 is caused to oscillate in one direction when the advanc ing end of the material reaches the desired point in its travel over the table 12. The mechanism which isillustrated for this purpose is constructed and operates substantially as follows:

Upon opposite sides of the machine are a pair of guide bars 20 supported in suitable brackets at opposite ends of the frame. These guide bars 20 carry a pair of brackets 21, 22 extending upwardly at opposite sides of the table and connected above the table by one or more tie rods 23 23' and a rock shaft 24. The rock shaft carries one or more depending trip levers or targets 25 projectiy tively light pressure of the material on the targets 25 without liability of buckling or crumpling the material. This oscillation releases the shaft 19 and permits the positive oscillation of the latter under the action of a spring or other means to control the clutch of the cut-off mechanism.

This interconnection between the transverse rock shaft 24 and the longitudinally extending rock shaft 19 is illustrated as in- I eluding a clutch trip lever 26 keyed to the shaft 19, but slidable along said shaft together with the bracket 22 as hereinafter described. I

The collar or hub portion of the lever 26 is mounted between spaced hearing portions of the bracket 22 as shown particularly in Fig. 5, and at one end of this hub is a collar 27 carrying a spring 28 engaging with said hub portion of the clutch trip lever 26.

The bracket 22 carries a clutch trip plate 29 on its outer surface, the plate being mounted to oscillate on a swivel stud 30 mounted on the bracket. This plate 29 has a lock plate 31 secured thereto and projecting downwardly below the edge of the plate 29 into the path of the upper end of the clutch trip lever 26. Adjacent to the plate 31, the plate 29 is connected to the bracket 22 by a coil spring 32 which tends to pull the right hand end of the plate 29 down to the lower limiting position, as shown in Fig. 5.

The clutch trip plate 29 carries at the opposite side of the pivotal support a clutch trip latch 33 which is mounted on a swivel pin 34 and rests on a stop 35. The latch 33 has one end in the path of a target trip lever plate 36 carried by a collar 37 on the end of the shaft 24.

As the sheet of material strikes the target when moving from the right as viewed in Fig. 5, the lower end of the target will swing toward the left, thereby oscillating the shaft 24 in a clockwise direction and swing ing the plate 36 toward the left. As the aeeaiia plate is iii-engagement with the end of the latch 33 and as the latter is in engagement with the stop pin 35, this swinging of the plate 36 will cause the plate 29 to turn about the swivel pin 30 as acenter and will lift the lock plate 31 out of the path of the clutch trip lever 26. This will release the rock shaft 19 and permitsit to turn under the influence of a spring and will operate throug the parts 18, 17

and 16, to oscillate the shaft 16 and cause the engagement of the clutch which willstart the cut-off mechanism.

In order to permit of the cutting of the sheets ofvarious diflerent lengths, means are provided for adjusting the position of the target lengthwise of the table and without interfering with the operative connections between the transverse rock shaft 24 and the longitudinally extending rock shaft 19. For this purpose the brackets 21 and 22 are slidable along the guide bars 20. Each bar 20 has a rack 39 on its .under side and the two brackets 21and 22 have bearings for a transverse shaft 40 provided with pinions 41 meshing with these racks. To facilitate the accurate and easy rotation of the shaft 40 to cause the brackets to travel along guide bars,'there is provided an auxiliary shaft 42 mounted in suitable hearings in the bracket 20. This shaft has a pinion 43 meshing with a gear wheel 44 on the ilgaft 40, and may be turned bya hand wheel a. and will cause the brackets 21 and 22 to travel lengthwise of the table and bring the targets to any desired position along the table and thus at any desired distance from the cut-off mechanism.

Preferably there is provided means for locking the shaft 40 against rotation, such means being illustrated-as a split collar or brake 46 carried'by the bracket 22 and having a hand wheel or knob 47 which may be operated to grip the shaft 40 between the two parts of the brake.

As the hub of the clutch trip lever 26 is slidable along the shaft 16 and is disposed between bearing portions of the bracket 22,

and as the other parts are carried by the bracket, itwill be noted that the swinging of the targets will release the shaft 19 irrespective of'the position of the targetsalong' the length of the table.

' The mechanism above. described is intended for releasing or oscillating the clutch trip lever shaft 19 automatically when the advancing end of the material engages the tar et. In many cases it is desired to manualy effect the operation of the cut-off.

For this purpose, the apparatus is provided with a shaft 50 mounted in suit-able bearing brackets 51 and 52 at opposite ends of the machine and engaging in a forked bracket 53 carried by the bracket 22. Keyed to the (not illustrated) Thus thetwo pinions 41-will be rotated 'counter-clock\'vise direction from the position shown in Fig. 6, the clutch trip plate 29 is oscillated andthe clutch trip lever 26 is released so that the shaft 19 may turn and the clutch-become engaged.

At either or both ends of the apparatus there is provided hand actuated mechanism for oscillating the shaft 50. Such mechanism is illustrated somewhat diagrammatically at the left hand end of Figs. 2 and 3 as including ,a short transverse shaft 55 mounted in hearings in the brackets 51 and connected to the shaft 50 by mitre gearing. This shaft 55 has a handle 56 which may be pulled out to turn the shaft 55 and, through it, the shaft 50. Thus the operator standing at the delivery end of the machine instance, to cut out. a defective section of the material or to cut off a shorter section if the feed or delivery mechanism is not operating properly. h

The operator standing at the side of the machine may release the cut-off clutch at any time by means of the handle 57 which is mounted directly on the target supporting shaft 24. This may be formed integral with the collar 37. This lever 57 may serve as a stop to limit the swinging of the targets in the direction-from which the material is fed, or there may be provided a separate lever 58 engaging the tie rod-23 and serving bothas a stop and as a means for manuallyoscillat-ing the target swivel shaft 24.

rod 59 carried by the bracket 22 and extending lengthwise of the apparatus. This has an indicator 60 cai ried thereby and disposed adjacent to a scale on the table so that by Watching the indicator 60, the target may be brought to the proper position for cutting any desired length of sections.

' As the most'import-ant feature of the present invention, there is provided means for automatically adjusting the target length wise of the apparatus in accordance with the speed of deliveryof the material. If the 1 target be properly positioned so that it will actuate the cut-elf andmake section of a predetermined length, the speeding up of the machine will cause a larger amount of the material to travel past the target during the brief time interval required for the .actuation of the cut-off after the target has been struck. Thus if the speed of the machineb'e increased, the sections which are cut oil will be too long. Similarly, if the speed of the machine be decreased a lesser amount of material will pass the target through the time interval required for the actuation of the cut-off and the sections will be too short.

In our improved apparatus, we provide a shaft 63 mounted'in suitable brackets 64 carried by the main frame. This shaft extends beyond the endof the apparatus to the mechanism, whatever it may be, which is actuated to vary the speed of the machine. This shaft 63 is at rest when the machine is at rest or when it is running at constant speed. The shaft is turned in one direction during an increase in speed, and is turned in the opposite direction during a decrease in s eed.

The shaft .may be connected through suitable gear or other power transmitting means to the controller handle of the rheostatof the electric motor, .if such motor be employed as a source of power, or it may be geared to the shaft which isturned to vary the driving gear ratio of a Reeves drive, if that mechanism be employed for varying the speed of theapparatus. It will be understood that other means might be employed for varying the speed of the apparatus, but whatever such means be it may be connected to the shaft 63. The shaft 63 may be connected to a centrifugal ball governor or to other suitablegovernor mechanism so that the shaft will be turned in one direction .or

the other as the speed varies.

The one thing that is important is that this shaft shall turn upon acceleration or deceleration of the speed of the apparatus,

and such turning may be effected automatically. H

In our improved machine, the turning of the shaft 63 acts to vary the position of the target. It accomplishes this by bodily moving the guide bars20 endwiseso that the manual adjustment'of the mechanism shown in Figs. 5 and 6 is not disturbed. It will'be noted that in the mechanism for manual adjustment'ofth e target, the brackets 21 and 22 are moved'along the rack bars but the rack bars remain stationary.

For effecting the automatic adjustment of the target,'.the rack bars are moved endwise and carry with them the brackets 21 and 22 and supported parts locked by the brake 46.

For moving the rack bars 20 endwise upon oscillation of the shaft 63, there is provided the mechanism shown particularly in Figs. 7 and 8. A pair of gear segments are mounted on a transverse shaft. 66 and mesh with the rack bars 39. One of the gear so ments 65 is formed integral with a depending lever arm 67 which carries a roller 68. The shaft 63 is connected to an auxiliary shaft 69 by a chain and sprocket 70 or other suitable means, and the shaft 69 is connected to a nut 71 by a pair of mitre gears 72. The auxiliary shaft 69 and the nut 71 may. be

I 1,eo4,11a

mounted in a bracket 73 connected'to the main frame. This bracket also has a vertical uide 74 in which is slidably mounted a hea or slide 75 connected-to a screw 76 mounted in the nut 71. The head 75 carries a plate 77 havin parallel guides 78 between which is dispose the roller 68. The slide or head 75 has an under-cut circular groove in. the face thereof, and the plate 77 is connected to the slide by bolts 79 having their heads in said groove. Thus, by loosening the bolts 79 the plate 77 may be rotated to bring the guides 78 to anyrdesired angle in respect to the vertical. If the guides 78 be vertical it will be noted that the rotation of the shaftv 63 will operate through the chain and sprocket, the gears 72 and the screw 76, to raise or lower the head 75 without swinging the arm 67., llf the plate 77 be rotated, so that the groove thereof is at an angle to thevertical, then any raising or lowering of the slide 75 will cause the arm 67 to swing one way or the other and this will actuate the gear segments 65 and move the guide bars 20 endwise.

.By means of this mcchani'sm'it will be noted that the bars 20 maybe moved any desired distance for a given angular movement of the shaft 63. Thus it is not material whether the shaft 63 be turned through several revolutions in starting the machine and bringing it up to full speed, or whether the shaft be turned through only a part-of a revolution. The so that the turning of the shaft 63 through the full limitfrom starting through to highest speed will move the guide bars 20 and the targets through the distance necessary to effect uniform len h of, sections for all speeds fromthe slowest to the fastest.

The relative sizes of the .two mitre gears, the relative sizes of the twosprockets, and the pitch of the'thread may be selected'in accordance with the approximate numberof turns of the shaft in going from slowest to fastest speed. The mechanism illustrated was designed particularly for operation from a Reeves drive; For other speed varying controllers there might be corresponding change in the design and ratio of the parts which oscillate the shaft 40 a given amount for a given turning of the shaft 63.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: i

1. A cut-off controlling mechanism including a target in the path of the advancing end of the material to be out 06', and means for automatically varyingthe position of said target in accordance with the speed of travel of said material.

2. A cut-off controlling mechanism including means adapted to be actuated by the advancing material for effecting the starting of the cut-ofi mechanism, and means for aumeans I tomatically varying the position of said first mentioned means along the path of movement of the material in accordance with the speed of travel of the material.

3. A cut-off controlling mechanism including a member adapted to be actuated by the movement of the material to be cut ofi, a member movable in one direction during acceleration of said movement of the material and in the opposite direction during deceleration, and connecting means for adjusting the first mentioned member in the direction of the movement of the material upon movement of said second mentioned member.

4. A cut-oil controlling mechanism including an oscillatory member movable in one direction upon acceleration of the rate of travel of the material to be cut ofi, and in the opposite direction upon deceleration of the rate of travel of said material, a cu't o'il controlling target in the path of movement of the advancing end of the material, and means for moving said target back and forth along the path of movement of the material upon oscillation of said member.

5. A cut-oil controlling mechanism including a shaft extending substantially parallel to the path of movement of the material to be cut off, a target in the path of movement of the advancing end of said material, means for automatically oscillating said shaft upon change in the rate of travel of saidmaterial, and means for moving said target along said path upon oscillation of said shaft.

6. A cut-off controlling mechanism including a shaft extending substantially parallel to the path of movement of the material to be cut off and adapted to be oscillated in one direction during acceleration of the rate of travel of the material along said path, and in the opposite direction during deceleration of said rate, means adapted to be actuated by said material for effecting the starting of a cut-off mechanism, and means for varying the position of said first mentioned means along said path upon the oscillating of said shaft.

7 A cut-oft controlling mechanism including a rack bar disposed substantially parallel to the path of movement of the material to be cut 03, a target movable back and forth along said rack bar for controlling the length of the cut-off sections, and automatic means for moving said rack bar endwise during acceleration or deceleration of the rate of travel of the material. I

8. A cut-off controlling mechanism including a rack bar extending substantially parallel to the path of movement of the material tobe cut oil, a, target in the path of movement of the material, a target carrier having a pinion engaging said rack bar for adjusting the tar et back and forth along said path, a sha t parallel to said rack bar and adapted to be turned during change in speedof the material, and means actuated by said shaft for moving said rack bar endwise. 9. A cutoff controlling mechanism including a rack bar extending substantially parallel to the path of movement of the material to be cut off, a target in the path of movement of the material, a target carrier having a pinion engaging said rack bar for adjusting the target back and forth along said path, a shaft parallel to said rack bar and adapted to be turned during change in speed of the material, means actuated by said shaft for moving said rack bar endwise, and means for varying the extent of movement of said rack bar for a given turning movement of said shaft.

10. A cut-off controlling mechanism ineluding-a rack bar extending substantially parallel to the path of movement of the material to be cut 0%, means movable along said rack bar for determining the length of the cut-ofi sections, and means for moving said rack bar endwise during change in the speed of travel of said material.

11. lln combination, a support advancing end of a sheet of material to be cut into sections, a target disposed adjacent to said support, 'manually operable means for moving said target along said support in accordance with the desired length of the cut-0d sections, and means for automatically moving said target along said support upon change in the speed of travelof said shaft. 12. In combination, a support for the advancing end of a sheet of material to be cut into sections, a member extendin lengthwise'of said support, a target carrie by said member, and automatic means for varying the position of said member along said support in accordance with the speed of travel of the material.

13.- lln combination, a support for the advancing end of a sheet of material to bev cut into sections, a member extendin lengthwise of said support, a target carrie by said member, means for varying the position of said member along said support in accordance with the speed of travel of the material, and independent means for moving said target along said member.

1a. in combination, a support for the advancing end of a sheet to be cut into sections, a cut-off controlling target, a rack bar extending along said support, means for moving said target along said rack bar, and

means for moving said rack bar along said support, one of said means being manually operable to vary the length of the cut-off sections, and the other of said means being automatically operable to maintain constant the length of sections upon change in the speed of travel of the material.

15. En combination, a support for the advancin end of a sheet to be cut into secfor the .moving said target along said rack bar, means for moving said rack bar along said tions, a cut-off controlling target, a rack bar extending along said, support, means for moving said target along said rack bar, and -means for moving said rack bar along said support, a'hand operated member for actuating one of said means,'and a member movable during variation in the'speed of travel of the material for automatically actuating the other'of said means.

16. In combination, a support for the advancing end of a sheet to be cut into sections, -a cut-off controlling target, a rackbar extending along said support, means for support, a hand operated member for actuating said first mentioned means, and a member movable during variation in the speed of travel of the material for automaticallyactuating said second mentioned means.

17. In combination, a support for the advancing end of a sheet of material to be cut into sections, a rack bar extending along said support, means movable along said rack bar for controlling the length of the cut-off sections, a ear member engaging said rack bar, a sha t extending lengthwise of said .cut into sections, a rack bar extending along said support, means movable along said rack barfor controlling the length of the cut oif sections, a gear member engaging said rack bar, a shaft extendinglengthwise of said support and adapted to be.turned in one direction during the acceleration, and in the opposite direction during deceleration of the rate of travel of the material, and operative connections between said shaft and said gear member, said connections including means for varying the extent of movement of the gear member for-a given turning movement of said shaft.

Signed at Camden in the county of Cam den and State of New Jerseythis 20th day of April 1927.

SAMUEL M. LANGSTON. KARL SIEG. s 

